How do I install SearXNG HTTP MCP?

Copy the stdio config for Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or VS Code on this page. It uses the publisher's install, not a PlugMCP proxy.

Does SearXNG HTTP MCP need an API key?

The publisher lists these environment variables: API_KEY.

What transport does SearXNG HTTP MCP use?

SearXNG HTTP MCP runs locally over stdio.

When was SearXNG HTTP MCP last checked?

Last checked 2026-11-10. Self-contained SearXNG metasearch MCP server. One Docker image, 200+ engines, privacy-first.

SearXNG HTTP MCP server

A self-contained MCP server that wraps SearXNG — a free, privacy-respecting metasearch engine that aggregates results from 200+ search engines.

🚀 Quick Start

Server mode — deploy once, connect from any client:

docker run -d --name searxng-mcp --restart unless-stopped \
  -p YOUR_PORT:8888 --memory=512m --cpus=1 \
  ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest

Then connect your client to http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/. To enable API key auth, see Authentication.

Local mode — no server needed, run directly in your client:

docker run --rm -i --memory=512m --cpus=1 ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest --stdio

Add this as a stdio MCP server in your client — see Client Configuration for details.

uvx mode — if you already have SearXNG running (install guide):

uvx searxng-http-mcp

Set SEARXNG_URL to point to your SearXNG instance (default: http://127.0.0.1:8080).

✨ Features

Search

🔍 200+ search engines — Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Brave, and more via SearXNG
📂 30+ categories — news, images, videos, science, IT, and more
📄 Multi-page fanout — up to 5 pages per call
💡 Autocomplete suggestions — discover relevant search terms
🗂 Engine discovery — query available engines grouped by category
🎯 Token-efficient — results trimmed to essentials

Infrastructure

📦 Self-contained — SearXNG built into Docker image
🔄 Triple transport — HTTP server, Docker stdio, and uvx standalone
🔐 Authentication — x-api-key + HTTP Basic Auth
🌐 Reverse proxy — SearXNG Web UI on the same port
⚡ Dynamic tool descriptions — live category lists injected at startup
📐 Rich JSON Schema — enum constraints, range limits, and descriptions on every parameter

🏛 Architecture

graph LR
  Client(["client:YOUR_PORT"]) --> Expose(":8888")

  subgraph Container["🐳 Docker Container"]
    direction LR
    Expose --> Auth{Auth}
    Auth -->|/mcp| MCP[FastMCP Server]
    Auth -->|/*| Proxy[Reverse Proxy]
    MCP --> SearXNG[SearXNG :8080]
    Proxy --> SearXNG
  end

  style Expose fill:none,stroke:#2496ed,stroke-dasharray:5 5,color:#2496ed

  style Client fill:#4a90d9,color:#fff,stroke:#3a7bc8
  style Container fill:#f0f4f8,stroke:#2496ed,stroke-width:2px,color:#2496ed
  style Auth fill:#f5a623,color:#fff,stroke:#d4900e
  style MCP fill:#50c878,color:#fff,stroke:#3da85e
  style Proxy fill:#9b59b6,color:#fff,stroke:#8344a5
  style SearXNG fill:#e74c3c,color:#fff,stroke:#c0392b

📊 Comparison with Alternatives

There are 20+ SearXNG MCP servers and many more general-purpose search MCPs. Most SearXNG wrappers only expose a basic search tool, leaving SearXNG's categories, autocomplete, and engine metadata unused. We picked five alternatives that each represent a distinct category:

88plug/searxng-mcp — richest tool surface among SearXNG MCPs (7 tools: rendered fetch, research mode, parallel queries)
ihor/mcp-searxng — most GitHub stars among SearXNG MCPs
open-webSearch — top free multi-engine alternative outside the SearXNG ecosystem (Bing, Baidu, DuckDuckGo, Brave, etc.)
exa-mcp-server — most popular commercial search API MCP
Perplexity MCP — commercial AI-powered search, highest star count in the search MCP space

MCP is designed for composition — clients connect multiple specialized servers, each doing one thing well. Some alternatives bundle URL fetching, rendered page extraction, multi-query fan-out, or research modes into the search server. We keep the tool surface to three (search, autocomplete, engine discovery) by design:

URL fetching is a separate concern. MCP clients already ship dedicated tools (WebFetch, Playwright MCP, Jina Reader). Bundling fetch into a search server mixes responsibilities and duplicates the client ecosystem.
Multi-query parallel search is client-side orchestration. LLM clients can fire multiple search calls in parallel — a search_many tool only adds token overhead for tool selection with no real benefit.
Research / synthesis belongs in the LLM layer. The model is the best synthesizer. Pushing multi-step research logic into the MCP server couples application concerns to infrastructure.

Instead we invest in what the alternatives above lack: complete SearXNG API coverage (categories, autocomplete, engine metadata — capabilities most wrappers leave on the table), self-contained deployment, authentication, Web UI reverse proxy, and AI coding agent plugin integration (Claude Code / Copilot CLI / Codex CLI).

📖 Usage

🌐 HTTP Mode (default)

# Without authentication
docker run -d --name searxng-mcp --restart unless-stopped \
  -p YOUR_PORT:8888 --memory=512m --cpus=1 \
  ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest

# With authentication
docker run -d --name searxng-mcp --restart unless-stopped \
  -p YOUR_PORT:8888 --memory=512m --cpus=1 \
  -e API_KEY=your-secret-key \
  ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest

📡 stdio Mode

docker run --rm -i --memory=512m --cpus=1 \
  ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest --stdio

No ports exposed. Communication via stdin/stdout. SearXNG runs internally for the MCP tools.

🐍 uvx Mode

# Connect to a local SearXNG instance (default: http://127.0.0.1:8080)
uvx searxng-http-mcp

# Connect to a remote SearXNG instance
SEARXNG_URL=http://YOUR_SEARXNG_HOST:YOUR_SEARXNG_PORT uvx searxng-http-mcp

Requires Python 3.14+ and an existing SearXNG instance. No Docker needed.

⚙️ Environment Variables

🔐 Authentication

When API_KEY is set, all requests require one of:

x-api-key header — for MCP clients: x-api-key: your-key
HTTP Basic Auth — for browsers

[!TIP] Browser Login: When accessing the Web UI with API_KEY enabled, the browser will show a login dialog. Leave the username empty and enter your API key as the password.

When API_KEY is not set, all requests are open.

🔧 MCP Tools Reference

Aggregates results from 200+ search engines with privacy.

Returns: results, answers, suggestions, corrections, infoboxes.

No parameters. Returns the list of enabled engines grouped by category.

Returns:

{
  "categories": ["general", "images", "videos", "news", ...],
  "engines": ["google", "bing", "duckduckgo", ...],
  "category_engines": {
    "general": ["google", "bing", "duckduckgo", "brave", ...],
    "science": ["arxiv", "google scholar", "pubmed", ...],
    ...
  }
}

Use this to discover what engines are available before calling search with specific engines or categories filters.

🔌 Client Configuration

The following is a baseline server-mode (remote HTTP) example using the standard mcpServers JSON structure. Many clients accept this structure, but field names and required type values differ — see the NOTE below and adjust for your client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

[!NOTE] Field-name differences: ZCode uses mcp.servers; Kilo Code uses a top-level mcp key with "type": "remote"; Windsurf uses serverUrl instead of url; VS Code Copilot uses a top-level servers key; OpenCode nests under mcp with "type": "remote"; Codex and Hermes use mcp_servers (TOML/YAML). For Claude Code, "type": "http" is required — without it the entry is read as a stdio server and skipped. For Cline, set "type": "streamableHttp" on remote HTTP servers.

Server mode — edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "url": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "--memory=512m", "--cpus=1", "ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest", "--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

uvx mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["searxng-http-mcp"],
      "env": { "SEARXNG_URL": "http://YOUR_SEARXNG_HOST:YOUR_SEARXNG_PORT" }
    }
  }
}

Server mode (CLI):

claude mcp add --transport http searxng http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/ \
  --header "x-api-key: your-secret-key"

Server mode (JSON) — the same mcpServers structure works in a team-shared project .mcp.json or a user-wide global ~/.claude.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local mode:

claude mcp add --transport stdio searxng -- docker run --rm -i --memory=512m --cpus=1 ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest --stdio

uvx mode:

claude mcp add --transport stdio searxng -- uvx searxng-http-mcp

Server mode — add to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.searxng]
url = "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/"
http_headers = { "x-api-key" = "your-secret-key" }

Local mode:

[mcp_servers.searxng]
command = "docker"
args = ["run", "--rm", "-i", "--memory=512m", "--cpus=1", "ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest", "--stdio"]

uvx mode:

[mcp_servers.searxng]
command = "uvx"
args = ["searxng-http-mcp"]

Server mode — edit .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "url": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "--memory=512m", "--cpus=1", "ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest", "--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

uvx mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["searxng-http-mcp"],
      "env": { "SEARXNG_URL": "http://YOUR_SEARXNG_HOST:YOUR_SEARXNG_PORT" }
    }
  }
}

Server mode — add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local mode:

{
  "servers": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "--memory=512m", "--cpus=1", "ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest", "--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

uvx mode:

{
  "servers": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["searxng-http-mcp"],
      "env": { "SEARXNG_URL": "http://YOUR_SEARXNG_HOST:YOUR_SEARXNG_PORT" }
    }
  }
}

Server mode — add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "serverUrl": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "--memory=512m", "--cpus=1", "ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest", "--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

uvx mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["searxng-http-mcp"],
      "env": { "SEARXNG_URL": "http://YOUR_SEARXNG_HOST:YOUR_SEARXNG_PORT" }
    }
  }
}

Configure via Cline's MCP settings panel in VS Code (Cline > MCP Servers > Add).

Server mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "url": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "--memory=512m", "--cpus=1", "ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest", "--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

uvx mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["searxng-http-mcp"],
      "env": { "SEARXNG_URL": "http://YOUR_SEARXNG_HOST:YOUR_SEARXNG_PORT" }
    }
  }
}

Server mode — edit opencode.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local mode:

{
  "mcp": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["docker", "run", "--rm", "-i", "--memory=512m", "--cpus=1", "ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest", "--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

uvx mode:

{
  "mcp": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["uvx", "searxng-http-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Server mode — edit ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

mcp_servers:
  searxng:
    url: "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/"
    headers:
      x-api-key: "your-secret-key"

Local mode:

mcp_servers:
  searxng:
    command: "docker"
    args: ["run", "--rm", "-i", "--memory=512m", "--cpus=1", "ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest", "--stdio"]

uvx mode:

mcp_servers:
  searxng:
    command: "uvx"
    args: ["searxng-http-mcp"]

Server mode — edit ~/.zcode/cli/config.json (user-wide) or .zcode/config.json (project):

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "searxng": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
        "headers": {
          "x-api-key": "your-secret-key"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Local mode:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "searxng": {
        "command": "docker",
        "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "--memory=512m", "--cpus=1", "ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest", "--stdio"]
      }
    }
  }
}

uvx mode:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "searxng": {
        "command": "uvx",
        "args": ["searxng-http-mcp"],
        "env": { "SEARXNG_URL": "http://YOUR_SEARXNG_HOST:YOUR_SEARXNG_PORT" }
      }
    }
  }
}

ZCode also accepts the standard mcpServers structure (e.g. in .agents/mcp.json). Alternatively, add servers via Settings → MCP Servers → New MCP Server.

Server mode — edit ~/.config/kilo/kilo.jsonc (global) or .kilo/kilo.jsonc (project):

{
  "mcp": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "your-secret-key"
      },
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

Local mode:

{
  "mcp": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["docker", "run", "--rm", "-i", "--memory=512m", "--cpus=1", "ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest", "--stdio"],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

uvx mode:

{
  "mcp": {
    "searxng": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["uvx", "searxng-http-mcp"],
      "environment": { "SEARXNG_URL": "http://YOUR_SEARXNG_HOST:YOUR_SEARXNG_PORT" },
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

Install the MCP adapter once, then add a standard mcpServers block — e.g. in ~/.pi/agent/mcp.json (all projects) or .pi/mcp.json (project):

pi install npm:pi-mcp-adapter

Restart Pi after installing.

Server mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "url": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "--memory=512m", "--cpus=1", "ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest", "--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

uvx mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["searxng-http-mcp"],
      "env": { "SEARXNG_URL": "http://YOUR_SEARXNG_HOST:YOUR_SEARXNG_PORT" }
    }
  }
}

🧩 AI Coding Agent Plugin

Compatible with Claude Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, and OpenAI Codex CLI. Add the marketplace, then install the plugin that fits your setup:

/plugin marketplace add whw23/searxng_http_mcp

All plugins include:

🔍 /web-search-via-searxng skill — search the web with category selection guide and usage rules
🤖 web-searcher agent — research subagent with:
- 🌐 Multi-language parallel search — auto-detects query language, searches in multiple languages for broader coverage
- 🛡 Source credibility tiers — Tier 1/2/3 classification with AI poisoning defense
- ✅ Cross-validation — key facts require 2+ independent sources
- 🔍 WebFetch deep reading — reads full pages from credible sources, not just snippets
- 🔄 Multi-round iterative search — up to 3 rounds with automatic deepening on gaps
- ⏱ Timeliness evaluation — flags outdated content, states source date ranges
- 📝 Footnote-style references — structured output with inline source citations

/plugin install searxng-http-mcp-standalone@searxng-http-mcp

Runs via uvx. Requires Python 3.14+ and an existing SearXNG instance. Set SEARXNG_URL in ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "env": {
    "SEARXNG_URL": "http://YOUR_SEARXNG_HOST:YOUR_SEARXNG_PORT"
  }
}

/plugin install searxng-http-mcp@searxng-http-mcp

Runs SearXNG in a local Docker container via stdio. Requires Docker installed.

/plugin install searxng-http-mcp-remote@searxng-http-mcp

Connects to a deployed SearXNG MCP server. Requires env vars SEARXNG_MCP_URL and SEARXNG_API_KEY.

Add to ~/.claude/settings.json under the env field:

{
  "env": {
    "SEARXNG_MCP_URL": "http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/mcp/",
    "SEARXNG_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
  }
}

Then restart Claude Code.

🛠 SearXNG Configuration

Access the SearXNG Web UI at http://YOUR_HOST:YOUR_PORT/ to configure search engines, languages, and other settings. Changes persist during the container's lifetime.

Mount the SearXNG config directory for persistent configuration:

docker run -d --name searxng-mcp --restart unless-stopped \
  -p YOUR_PORT:8888 --memory=512m --cpus=1 \
  -v /path/to/searxng-config:/etc/searxng \
  ghcr.io/whw23/searxng-http-mcp:latest

SearXNG generates settings.yml on first startup. The container automatically enables JSON format output required by MCP tools.

🏗 Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/whw23/searxng_http_mcp.git
cd searxng_http_mcp
docker build -t searxng-http-mcp:local .
docker run -d --name searxng-mcp --restart unless-stopped \
  -p YOUR_PORT:8888 --memory=512m --cpus=1 \
  searxng-http-mcp:local

🤝 Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full workflow, CI requirements, and development setup.

🍴 Fork the repository and enable GitHub Actions in your fork
🌿 Create a feature branch from dev
✍️ Make your changes
✅ Run tests: pytest tests/ -v — CI must pass in your fork before opening a PR
📬 Submit a PR to dev

Development happens on the dev branch. Merges to main trigger image builds.

📄 License

MIT — MCP server code.

SearXNG itself is licensed under AGPL-3.0-or-later.

SearXNG HTTP MCP

Add this server

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Server facts

Tools

Questions

How do I install SearXNG HTTP MCP?

Does SearXNG HTTP MCP need an API key?

What transport does SearXNG HTTP MCP use?

When was SearXNG HTTP MCP last checked?

Documentation

🚀 Quick Start

✨ Features

Search

Infrastructure

🏛 Architecture

📊 Comparison with Alternatives

📖 Usage

🌐 HTTP Mode (default)

📡 stdio Mode

🐍 uvx Mode

⚙️ Environment Variables

🔐 Authentication

🔧 MCP Tools Reference

🔌 Client Configuration

🧩 AI Coding Agent Plugin

🛠 SearXNG Configuration

🏗 Build from Source

🤝 Contributing

📄 License